Davisleydi Velazco Fernandez

Happy birthday to Cuba’s triple jump star Davisleydi Velazco, who this June did something no woman anywhere in the world had done in two years.

At the Diamond League in Doha on 19 June, Davisleydi opened at 14.97m and then landed 15.13m: a Cuban national record, a world lead, and a personal best by twenty-eight centimetres. She backed it up with another 14.97m later in the same series, because it was not a fluke of one jump. The mark beat compatriot Leyanis Pérez at 14.93m and Senegal’s Saly Sarr at 14.86m in one of the deepest triple jump fields of the season.

Twenty-eight centimetres. Triple jumpers spend entire careers hunting ten. Her own read on it afterwards was not about the number at all: she said she was satisfied she had done it exactly as she and her coach had planned.

Davisleydi is now ranked fourth in the world, a two-time Diamond League meeting winner, a NACAC U23 champion and a Pan American U20 champion. Cuba’s triple jump tradition, which is one of the great traditions in the entire sport, has its next chapter well in hand.

¡Feliz cumpleaños, Davisleydi! Que cumplas muchos más, con mucha salud y mucha alegría, y que la tabla te siga quedando corta. 🎂🎁🎉🫶🫶🇨🇺